29 



ders made of heavy nylon-reinforced polyethylene, which will be used 

 to isolate large volumes of ocean water for study. 



These cylinders, 7 feet in diameter and 27 feet long, will be suspended 

 vertically in a storm-protected sea area. They will be closed at the 

 bottom and open to the atmosphere at the top. Communities of natural 

 sea life — aglae, plankton, et cetera — will be retained in the cylinders in 

 their natural state. 



During the experiments, measured amounts of pollutants will be 

 added to some of the cylinders while the others will be retained as con- 

 trols for comparison. 



In this way, the effects of the pollutants on the various organisms 

 can be observed and compared with the living forms in the isolated com- 

 nnmity to which no pollutants were added. Special attention will be 

 paid to the changes in populations of species and, in this way, those 

 portions of the marine food chain which are critical links in the way 

 the ocean responds to pollution will be detected. 



The Geochemical Ocean Sections Study — G'EOSECS— aims at 

 establishing present concentrations of a large number of chemical 

 elements and compounds in the deep water of the ocean. While the pri- 

 mary goal of GEOSECS is to understand ocean circulation and mix- 

 ing, the data also bear on the problems of ocean pollution. 



For example, the ])resent-dav concentrations of fission-product radio- 

 nuclides are being established for the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. But, 

 most important, the new insights which these experiments will pro- 

 vide on the rates of mixing of ocean waters will be very useful in 

 developing methods to calculate dilution rates for ocean pollutants. 



Projects suppoi-ted by the Foundation's program of research ap- 

 plied to national needs — RANX — involve planning for the prevention 

 of environmental degradation in coastal areas and developing new 

 techniques for managing coastal environments. 



There are several categories of these proiects. One set of projects is 

 typified by the coastal zone workshop held 1 year ago at Woods Hole, 

 Mass. At this workshop, panels of experts outlined critical coastal 

 problems, examined and evaluated available information about them, 

 and reconunended research needed to achieve an understanding of con- 

 taminatioi\ in coastal waters. 



At a similar meeting. State legislators and attorneys general from 

 82 States considered problems related to the integration of State legis- 

 lation and the Federal Coastal Zone Act. reviewing current laws and 

 programs in force in the coastal States. The National Science Founda- 

 tion is particularly pleased to have been able to assist in this effort of 

 encouraging communication and coordination at State and Federal 

 levels. 



Other projects funded through RANN programs are designed to 

 assist in the planning of shoreline developments in order to reduce the 

 likelihood of environmental deterioration. One such effort, coordinated 

 with the EPA. is a study at the Univ^ersity of Oklahoma of the poten- 

 tial environmental conseouences — together with the regulatory and 

 legal issues — of future offshore oil production. 



Another study, carried out in Texas, is developing operating criteria 

 for coastal-zone management that will minimize the destructive effects- 

 of man's activities, develop methods of processing Avastes discharged 

 into coastal waters, and establish water quality criteria for mainte- 

 nance of life in bays and estuaries. 



